Fighting the COVID-19 Pandemic with Technology Innovations

BY GREG WITHAM

AS THE ONLY COMPANY in the state of Delaware that received FDA Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for its COVID-19 Antigen Rapid Test, ANP Technologies (ANP) has invested years of technical expertise into rapid development of advanced detection technology for fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. Many Delawareans and non- Delawareans have been using ANP’s NIDS® COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Test Kits as a part of their efforts to combat the ongoing pandemic. During January and February of 2022, ANP provided almost one million tests, all of which were 100 percent made in the U.S. to communities, including New Castle County government; Delaware Department of Public Health; private and public schools; local doctor’s offices; large companies; hospital networks; 140+ schools in greater Philadelphia and New York areas; many colleges and businesses across the country, especially, vulnerable minority- and women-owned small businesses and nonprofits like churches and schools. All of these efforts focused on helping mitigate the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 virus through rapid detection and screening with the overall goal of safely reopening businesses and schools and jump starting the impacted economy. ANP also provided many free tests to local communities, families, and vulnerable populations—helping to lessen the health, social, and economic impact to these most susceptible populations.

The NIDS® (Nano Intelligent Detection System) COVID-19 Antigen Rapid Test is a rapid lateral flow immunoassay for the qualitative detection of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, from direct nasal swabs. The test is highly sensitive and has demonstrated to be effective at detecting the original strain of the virus, as well as all of the variants of concern (VOC) including Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Mu, Delta, Omicron, BA.1, BA.2, and others.

The NIDS® COVID-19 Antigen Rapid Test was developed using ANP’s NIDS® technology platform that was initially developed for the rapid detection of various biological warfare agents for the U.S. military. When COVID-19 emerged, ANP quickly configured its detection platform to detect SARS-CoV-2 antigen and achieved outstanding performance with support from the Department of Defense and the NIH/NIBIB RADx initiative. With funding from NIH RADx, ANP rapidly acquired and deployed automated, large-scale production lines for producing test kits— scaling up production to more than 100,000 tests per day capacity.

Technology innovation is a long-term commitment. ANP’s success in rapid development of the COVID-19 test illustrated the desperate need for government-supported innovation in technology that can provide and maintain domestic manufacturing capability, as well as technology readiness to deploy and combat novel and emerging threats as was and continues to be the case for COVID-19. Unfortunately, as has been painfully experienced by ANP—the lack of coordinated government procurement programs or mechanisms to do so after successfully winning and completing the NIH/RADx initiatives has severely hindered the ability of small businesses to deliver its full domestic manufacturing capacity and serve the nation when rapid testing is most needed. n

Greg Witham is the executive director of business development & contracts at ANP Technologies, Inc.